Former rector released in Turkey’s Gülen probe

ÇANAKKALE – Anadolu Agency

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Former Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University rector Sedat Laçiner has been released by a court in Turkey’s northwestern Çanakkale province after being detained in connection with a probe into the “parallel state” group.

Laçiner was detained on Dec. 26 alongside a number of businesspersons during simultaneous operations where 28 people were detained. 

The court decided to release 11 of the 28 detainees, judicial sources said. 

The suspects have all been charged with being be part of the “parallel state” group allegedly led by U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

Gülen is the top suspect in numerous cases involving the “Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ)/Parallel State Structure (PDY),” an alleged organization he leads, which both Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) accuse of exploiting the judiciary and state institutions to achieve their goals.

Since early 2014, investigations into the parallel state have seen hundreds of civil servants, including police and public prosecutors, arrested or reassigned.